Clear Lake Cabin Lookout
4Heads up4 fires, nearest 12 mi
- Right now
- Taking bookingsSites offered on 15 of the next 15 nights read 16:34 UTC
- Sites
- 1All of them booked ahead
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 10 notices
In the agency’s own words
Clear Lake Cabin Lookout is situated on the southern slope of Mt. Hood, providing spectacular panorama views of snow-covered treetops, alpine lakes and rugged Cascade peaks. It also provides access to a variety of recreational opportunities, including fishing, hiking and wildlife viewing, as well as winter sports. From December 1st through April 30th, and during winter driving conditions, the lookout can only be accessed by skiing, snowmobiling or snowshoeing 3.5 miles one way from a parking area at Skyline Sno-park. Winter driving conditions can occur in early fall and persist late into the spring. An ODOT Sno-Park permit is required to park at Skyline Sno-park and the trek takes about three to four hours. Guests are responsible for their own travel arrangements and safety, and must bring several of their own amenities. Keep reading
Recreation
The surrounding area is popular among winter sports enthusiasts, as it offers access to miles of great cross country skiing, snowshoeing and snowmobiling. A ski tour is available around the spring-fed Little Crater Lake. Fishing is available in the various mountain lakes and streams, however, many may be frozen.
Facilities
The cabin is atop a 40-foot tower and is surrounded by a wooden catwalk. The 14-by-14 room is furnished with a small bed, a wood stove for heating and a table and chairs. It has a propane cook stove and solar-powered lights. There is no water on-site. An outhouse with vault toilets is located on the ground, as well as a shed stocked with firewood. A rope and pulley system is available to transport gear, as well as firewood, up and down the tower with ease. Guests will need to bring their own water for drinking, cooking and cleaning purposes, as well as their own bedding, food and clothing, towels, toilet paper, among other necessities. Garbage bags are also not supplied and guests will need to carry out all trash and clean the facility prior to leaving.
Natural Features
The tower sits on Clear Lake Butte, a 4,454-foot gently sloped hillside covered with fir trees, on the south side of Mt. Hood. Of the nine peaks in Oregon's Cascade Mountain Range, Mt. Hood stands the tallest, at 11,239 feet. It is thickly forested and capped with glaciers and snow. The lookout tower is perched on the mountainside, near the northwest corner of the Warm Springs Indian Reservation. It is one of three Forest Service watchtowers on Mt. Hood and it is still used to spot fires during summertime each year. Originally 100 feet tall when it was built in 1932, the tower was replaced with the current 40-foot building in 1962. It overlooks Clear Lake and Timothy Lake in the distance. A variety of wildlife make its home in the area. Contact Info This location is unstaffed. To speak with our main office for general information, please call: (541) 352-6002.
What the agency tells you
For current conditions, please call Barlow Ranger District office at 541-467-2291 or the Hood River Ranger District office at 541-352-6002. The office is staffed Monday thru Friday 8am-4:30pm.
The road accessing the tower is closed seasonally, from 12/1 through 4/30 the lookout can only be accessed by skiing, snowmobiling or snowshoeing 3.5 miles one way from a parking area at Skyline Sno-Park.
Drinking water is not available at the tower
Everything else this campground posts · 7
The combination to the tower, woodshed, and gate (if locked) are all the same and are included in your confirmation email.
Check-out is 11am, check-in is 3pm.
Be prepared for extreme winter weather conditions; guests should be experienced in back country travel and survival skills
A sno-park permit is required to park at Skyline Sno-Park
The height of the cabin and the open catwalk pose serious risks for children and pets; the steps and catwalk can become quite slippery and the tower may sway in strong winds
Don't Move Firewood: Please protect Pacific Northwest forests by preventing the spread of invasive species. Firewood can carry insects and diseases that can threaten the health of our western forests. You can make a difference by obtaining and burning your firewood near your camping destination. Visit Dontmovefirewood.org for further information.
Firewood is provided for indoor use only.
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 1 · 1 cabin
- Hookups
- None
- Accessible sites
- None listed
- Shade
- Every site
Facilities
- Toilets
- Vault Toilets
- “…is no water on-site. An outhouse with vault toilets is located on the ground, as well as a shed stocked…”
- Drinking water
- None, bring your own
- “…cook stove and solar-powered lights. There is no water on-site. An outhouse with vault toilets is located…”
- Firewood
- Mentioned
Around the campground
- On the water
- Lake, Creek
- Birding
- Cross Country Skiing
- Fishing
- Hiking
- Hunting
- Snowmobiling
- Wildlife viewing
Fully booked this Friday and Saturday, all 2 site-nights takenread 16:34 UTC
Every site here is reservable, and the record lists none held back for anyone who drives up.
OpenBooked
The one site on offer is taken this Friday and Saturday, and on four midweek nights after it as well. read 16:34 UTC Why the weekend fills and the week doesn’t
Watch for a cancellation
Full? Watch it.
One email when a night opens, plus More Than Just Parks dispatches. Unsubscribe any time.
We read recreation.gov once an hour, at 40 minutes past, and write the first time a site in your window is free for the nights you asked for.
Scanners that check every few minutes exist, and most of them charge. This one is free, it reads the same calendar, and it won’t always be first.
Tell me when the season opens
Watch for the season to open
One email when the season goes on sale, plus More Than Just Parks dispatches. Unsubscribe any time.
We check once an hour, at 40 minutes past, and write the first time the agency has that season on sale.
Scanners that check every few minutes exist, and most of them charge. This one is free, it reads the same calendar, and it won’t always be first.
We make nothing when you book. The link goes straight to the government.
Every line of the receipt · 15
What you actually pay
Who keeps the booking fee
The agency’s own policy text says the reservation fee and the cancellation processing fee are “retained by the reservation service contractor”, and that a campground concessionaire will decline to refund them because “they did not receive these fees”. Recreation.gov is run under contract by Booz Allen Hamilton. What share of your booking fee the contractor keeps isn’t published in any federal dataset we can read, so we print no number for it. Our reporting on the contract →
How we know this receipt · 5
recreation.gov availability, read 16:34 UTC · rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Sep 10, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
1 sites · the site map
All 1 sites
Toilet distances are OpenStreetMap’s, measured for 1 of the 1 sites listed. A site with no reading is unknown, never far.
The price is derived by CAMPANAC, not published per site: the per-night rate this campground publishes for each site’s own site type. 1 of the 1 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.
| AREA CLEAR LAKE CABIN LOOKOUT | 001 | cabin nonelectric | 4,853 ft | 2,581 ft | $85 |
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Little Crater LakeMt. Hood National Forest · 1.4 mi
Clear Lake (OR)Mt. Hood National Forest · 1.9 mi
North Arm Campground (Timothy Lake, OR)Mt. Hood National Forest · 2.8 mi
Oak Fork Campground (Timothy Lake, OR)Mt. Hood National Forest · 3.8 mi
Joe Graham Horse CampgroundMt. Hood National Forest · 4.1 mi
Gone Creek Campground (Timothy Lake, OR)Mt. Hood National Forest · 4.1 miAccess begins at the junction of Highway 26 and Forest Service Road 42, 12 miles south of Government Camp, Oregon, at the Skyline Sno-Park. Between 12/1 and 04/30, guests must park at the Sno-Park and ski, snowshoe or snowmobile to the facility. From the parking area, proceed on Forest Service Road 42 to the 240 spur road and continue to the lookout, approximately 3.2 miles with an elevation climb of 900 feet. It is a good path for moderate skiers and will take three-and-a-half to four hours to complete. Maps are available online or for purchase by calling the Barlow Ranger District.
Guests will need to purchase a Sno-Park permit to park at Skyline Sno-Park. Permits can be purchased at several locations in the Portland area, or at CJ's on Highway 26, west of the intersection of Highway 26 and Forest Service Road 42.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Government Camp, OR
Typical weather
Typical October night 37°F, day 53°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical December night 26°F, below freezing. Bring a bag rated colder than that, and expect ice in the water bottle.
Daily high and lowDays with 0.10 in or more
A normal is the 1991-2020 average for the month, not a forecast: about half of all Augusts are colder than the August line. The seven-day forecast above answers the other question.
The land, and who answers for it
what threatens it · who answers for it
What threatens this place
You’re camping on ground somebody wants. We track the threats and the comment deadlines.
Who answers for this land
Clear Lake Cabin Lookout is in Oregon’s 2nd congressional district. Its representative, Cliff Bentz (R), votes on the laws that decide what happens to this land. Public-lands grade so far: F. See every public-lands vote →